


A Goron Adrift - Reclaim the Wild Mashup Campaign Log

by Warlyte (MarinaSaryn)



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23310958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarinaSaryn/pseuds/Warlyte
Summary: Meet Koloh, a bookish young Goron determined to show the rest of his tribe that his learning is worthy of their warriors' honor. With his partner Cyndaquil, he sets off to explore the seas east of Death Mountain. Based on a solo campaign in Reclaim the Wild, a Zelda tabletop RPG, with lots of homebrew experiments!
Kudos: 1





	1. Introduction

Chief Vargo stood at the center of the chamber, surrounded by all the Gorons in the city. In his massive booming voice, he declared, "Today we are together to witness the coming of age of young Koloh!"

The tribe cheered loudly. Koloh himself looked around in giddy embarrassment. He had never really been sure this day would come; he wasn't quite as big or strong as the fathers of the tribe. His strengths were of the mind, in reading and thought, and he was even blessed with a small capability for magic.

But in the Goron tradition, a warrior's strength mattered most of all. To defeat one's enemies in an honorable battle, through muscle and force of will - that was the way of the Goron.

It wasn't that Koloh didn't agree with that way of thinking. Indeed, he loved to read of such heroes late into the night. But it was much easier, and more fun, to do that reading instead of working out or training his body to become such a warrior himself.

Whether the elders approved of this didn't matter, not today. One way or another, he had made it here.

Vargo lifted the Elder's Axe, a ceremonial weapon that was rather small and light by Goron standards. This, too, had featured in some of, Koloh's favorite stories, sometimes turning the tide with a well-placed throw. But that would have been ages ago.

Koloh knelt before the Chief, who rested the flat of the axe blade atop his head. "Today, Koloh changes from a boy to a man, from a tiny pebble to a great boulder. As his brethren, we will no longer call him Son, but Brother."

The Gorons shouted in unison and pounded their chests. Vargo continued, "This is the beginning of your journey to become who you were made to be. In honor of this occasion, we will now commence with the true purpose of this ceremony. Today, you will receive an egg… which will someday become your Pokémon."

The second shout was accompanied by the roars of their companions. Onix and Charizard were among the loudest, along with Chief Vargo's own Tyranitar, standing watchfully behind him. Koloh's heart raced. Even though he wouldn't know what his Pokémon might look like until it hatched, he couldn't wait to see the egg.

"Though all intelligent creatures one day receive Pokémon," Vargo said, "We Gorons hold them most sacred, for we know that they are gifts from the goddesses themselves. Let Din herself smile on this joyous day, and give our new Brother a worthy companion and guardian!"

Vargo raised the Elder's Axe, and the tribe musicians began chanting and playing their bongos. The sound reverberated around Death Mountain, filling Koloh's body with even more excitement. Something was rising, both in the mountain, and within him.

Tyranitar roared and brought its fist down on a boulder in the center of the room. It cracked and crumbled, revealing a shallow hole beneath. Inside it was a black egg with a bright orange triangle pattern. The cheers of the tribe became deafening as Koloh slowly approached the egg and picked it up. It was hot, and seemed to beat like a heart - or was that the drums?

Koloh looked around at everyone. Perhaps this was only the beginning, but for the moment, he was as happy as he'd ever been in his life.

* * *

_ Three years later… _

"Alright, Cyn, don't make a sound. And stay calm. If your back flares up, someone will see us for sure."

Koloh immediately regretted his words. Putting the extra pressure on Cyndaquil only made her more nervous. Her flames weren't appearing yet, but he could feel her tensing up on his shoulder.

"We can do this," he whispered. "And with this, we'll prove everyone wrong."

He wasn't exactly the sneaky type - even though he was smaller than most, he was still a Goron, after all - but nobody really expected someone to come down and steal the tribe's sacred treasures. Still, if he got caught, he had no idea what he might do.

Koloh stepped up to the pedestal and looked at the heirloom. It had lost its edge over the years, he knew, but it still had the potential to bring its wielder to greatness. He hadn't seen it this closely since his coming of age ceremony. Reverently, he lifted it up as the Chief once had and looked it over. Then he slung it over his shoulder, ready to set off. "Here we go, Cyn. The Elder's Axe!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to A Goron Adrift, a campaign in the Zelda tabletop RPG Reclaim the Wild. It features a lot of the game's core content, but also a lot of homebrew stuff that I like. You'll mostly notice the Pokémon and Fire Emblem crossovers as well as some sailing mechanics. I'm essentially playing it completely on my own, for fun as well as to help test some of the homebrew content.
> 
> This is a campaign log, which means you'll see a lot of the actual game info in the notes in addition to my written rendition of the story. The above is all considered backstory, leading up to the moment play will begin in the next chapter. Thus, today I'm going to give a brief rundown of Koloh and Cyndaquil.
> 
> Koloh is a relatively well-rounded character, since he'll need to do a lot on his own. Thus, in addition to his magical inclination, he is also naturally capable with normal weapons, as well as in smithing and cooking. His biggest weakness is a lack of confidence that translates into all of his social stats being very low. Due to the way this game works, that can be a serious handicap even in battle! 
> 
> Despite that, his class from the Fire Emblem conversion, Reclaim the Throne, is Lord. I want him to really come into his own and discover who he is over time. The class gives him bonuses to coordinating with companions, which will work well with Cyndaquil. It also will eventually allow him to choose a bonus from any other class during his "promotion" later on, giving a lot of flexibility depending on what I end up liking.
> 
> It also allows him to carry one Lordly Weapon, in this case the Elder's Axe. With the changes from Reclaim the Throne, he's able to have a proficiency in axes, gaining the bonus against lances and spears. But it's a throwing axe, which otherwise uses the stats of a boomerang. Confusing? Yes, probably.
> 
> His other abilities include a traditional Goron roll, a magic spell that creates spikes around his body, Daruk's Protection, a wave of flames, and a fierce uppercut that can knock enemies off their feet.
> 
> Now let's talk Cyndaquil. Some of the standard stats don't apply to her, so she has fewer points to work with. In general, though, she is pretty much matched to her game role - a fairly speedy little special attacker with relatively low defenses. Her standard "natural" weapon is named Tackle, while a simple fireball spell stands in for Ember. She'll have to learn a couple more tricks and raise some stats before she can evolve into Quilava.
> 
> There are a few more stats and equipment pieces to speak of, but I don't want to bore everyone with every single bit of crunch. Next time we'll get into some real play!
> 
> By the way, although I'm being my own GM, feel free to suggest things that could happen in future sessions! It's pretty open-ended for now, after all.


	2. Escape from the City

It was relatively easy to get back to Goron City. As it turned out, nobody really looked twice at another Goron with an axe on his back. They'd have to stop a minute to realize that it wasn't just any axe, and luckily nobody did.

Or at least, not until the very end. Koloh tried his best to casually walk out of the city gates, headed down toward--well, he hadn't really thought much of his destination just yet.

"Hey, Koloh," said a gate guard. "Nice to see you out and about for once, brother. Where are you headed?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd go off on a little walk. Fresh air clears the mind, you know."

"Ah, of course! That's a nice axe you're carrying there, by the way. Although it looks a bit like the… Elder's… Axe…"

Koloh opened his mouth to respond, but he knew it was useless. So close to freedom, and he was busted already! With the guard standing right in the door, there was only one way out of this: straight through.

He took Cyndaquil in his arms and whispered, "Hold on tight." Then he curled himself up and rolled as fast as he could straight for the door, calling on his inner magical power as he did. By the time he got there the spiky growths had extended out from his form, making him tougher and more dangerous than ever.

Koloh felt an impact as he collided with the guard - it would probably leave a bruise since the strong Goron had pushed so hard to stop him - but in the end the spell cleared his path. Koloh was lucky he could keep it up for a little while, preventing them from giving an effective chase. Still…

He had been hoping to avoid letting anyone know what he was doing for now. How could he possibly explain himself? Moreso than any punishment he might find, Koloh didn't think he could face any of the others.

After a few tumbles along the ridges, his magic energy started to wane, and he let the spikes go. He could still roll for a while longer, but eventually he stopped and stood up to catch his breath. Cyndaquil hopped onto the ground and stretched out.

The two of them walked along for a bit before hearing a chittering sound above them. Koloh looked up just as a monstrous spider creature descended and smashed right into him. He cried out in pain as it retreated, but two more leapt from nowhere and struck as well. He knocked one to the side and instinctively let out a burst of magic that deflected the other attack.

He was surrounded, but these things - most likely tektites, from what he had heard - were spreading out. If he could just separate them…

Koloh ran after one and hit its body with his uppercut, knocking it into the air. Before it could get up, he rolled off past it, away from the other enemies.

Cyndaquil shot a burst of flame at the nearby one as it got up, but it kept going. They were so fast! In a matter of seconds the three creatures were swarming and battering him with their long legs. He knew he couldn't take much more of this, but he had to keep Cyndaquil safe. Even as she spat another Ember attack and knocked one of the things off its feet for good, Koloh stepped forward and blocked them off with his body. They jumped at him again, pounding against his rocky back. He felt as if his life could slip away at any second…

In the gap between their strikes, he uncurled and took out the Elder's Axe. It was his last hope. He swung it and connected with a tektite - but still it got back up. If only he could have found that perfect weak point.

"Cyn… Go get 'em," he said, just before the next blow knocked him on his back and he saw stars. He was barely aware of Cyndaquil blowing the last of her flames, clawing for her life… But it still wasn't enough. She crumpled at his side.

**GAME OVER**

CONTINUE? Y/N

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that didn't go so well. I had a play-by-play record of everything that I did, but that was really long and kind of redundant with the written story anyway. So I'll just give a few insights here and there.
> 
> Koloh needed two stealth checks to leave Goron City. He has terrible Agility, though, so just passing the first was impressive!
> 
> After the guard's attempt at a knockdown failed I was tempted to have a sort of chase scene, but it wouldn't have been that great. Ultimately his Stone Spikes allow him to skip by all sorts of difficult terrain, a big advantage for someone with a lot of Magic!
> 
> I had come up with a crude table for what might be found on Death Mountain, so that's where we ended up with 3 tektites. Their Jump Attack is pretty nasty, so Koloh was in trouble right from the beginning. Also, Spells and Techniques, such as Jump Attack, Uppercut and Ember, hit automatically in most circumstances, making them a great option against the very evasive tektites. Koloh, on the other hand, couldn't dodge continental drift coming towards him.
> 
> So I tried a variety of attacks and defensive options, but ultimately these two didn't have a real chance against the three tektites. As a companion, Cyndaquil shares Koloh's major and minor actions each turn, limiting what they can do - perhaps I need to change that to make up for not having a real group? Or maybe the enemies I chose were just too tough to start with.
> 
> Either way, our heroes have fainted, but it's too soon for their story to end. Who might find them and help them out?


End file.
